LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chile's mining minister said she
is working to streamline the increasingly cumbersome mine permit
process in a bid to support an industry that is crucial for the
country's economic growth.

Resource intensive Chile is facing a slowdown in mining
investment. Billions of dollars worth of projects have been put
on ice or delayed, caught up in red tape and/or opposed by local
communities.

The centre-left government of President Michelle Bachelet
recently called a 60-day review of ministerial permitting
processes, with a view to improving efficiency while still
protecting the environment.

"We have set up a specific team to revise the permitting
process for mining investment," Aurora Williams, Chile's
minister of mines, told Reuters at the annual London Metal
Exchange (LME) Week industry gathering in London.

"There are various inefficiencies. For example there can be
duplications where two institutions ask for the same documents.
Sometimes there are permits that are asked that do not really
add value to the final evaluation of the project."
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